Program Statement on #BlackLivesMatter

Program Statement on #BlackLivesMatter

In recent months chants of “Say Their Names” have filled the streets of every state in the U.S., demanding this country acknowledge the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Rayshard Brooks, Tony McDade, and so many other black people at the hands of police violence. As faculty of American Studies, we recognize these deaths are a part of the broader structures of white supremacy that informs colonialism, slavery, incarceration, and U.S. militarism.

The American Studies program stands in solidarity with those seeking to end state violence. Our teaching and research regularly unpacks white supremacy in history, law, art, and culture. Our senior seminars (AMST 498), for example, have already, and will continue to provide our students with the opportunity to explore the deep historical roots of over-policing and state-sanctioned violence. These courses situate Black Lives Matter within the long history of black communities’ efforts to liberate themselves and others, and analyze the future of racial and social justice from interdisciplinary lenses.

We remain committed to countering anti-black racism and centering intersectional analysis of race, class, gender, and sexuality as a way to challenge all systems of oppression. We support our students in the fight for racial and social justice, the graduation requirement of Ethnic Studies at the CSUs, ACA 5 to revoke Prop 209, and the local and national calls to defund the police and invest in community needs.

-The AMST Faculty

Far-Sited: Creating and Conserving Art in Public Places

On October 16-18 the CSULB UAM along with the Getty and the Museum of Latin American Art is holding a conference on public art, tied to the 50th anniversary of the historic 1965 California International Sculpture Symposium. There are 100 student scholarships available to cover conference registration, so there’s no excuse for AMST students not to attend.

Mike Watt in Conversation About Music, Power, and Community in L.A.

The CSULB History Graduate Students Association (HGSA) is bringing Mike Watt — “from Pedro, who works the thud staff, and who jams econo” — to campus for a conversation about music, power, and community in Los Angeles on Tuesday, October 6th at 6pm in MM-100.

Discussion about In Focus: Animalia at The Getty

American Studies students are invited to join Dr. Mizelle at The Getty on Thursday, October 1st at 11am for a discussion with Arpad Kovacs, Assistant Curator, Department of Photographs, about the exhibition In Focus: Animalia, which is the perfect accompaniment to our discussions about the history and stakes of animal representation in AMST 421: Animals in American Culture. Contact Dr. Mizelle for details and carpooling information.